Transcript of the above video:

As the title of this video suggests, we are discussing Border Runs here in Thailand. I want to preface this video by saying we need to make a distinction between Visa Runs and Border Runs. Visa Runs in my mind are when you get on a plane, you leave Thailand, you go to another country, you go to a Thai Embassy in that country and you seek an actual formal visa. A Border Run is when you cross a land border and return to Thailand in an effort to just get stamped out so that you don't fall into overstay and then stamped back in for a new round of lawful status. These are kind of two different things.

That said, I thought of making this video after reading a recent article from the Pattaya Mail, that is pattayamail.com, the article is titled: Summary of Thai Visas available: January 2024. Under the subheading Border Runs, quoting directly: "Visa exempt nationals can obtain a further 30 days by visiting the border, usually with Cambodia, on a Border Run." That said, Laos is a possibility, even in certain instances Myanmar, although Myanmar, be very careful with that; it is a very limited subset of situations where you are going to be able to do Border Runs into Myanmar. And if you are way down south, you may be able to do a border run into Malaysia and back. Quoting further: "This basically involves a minibus day trip by a tour organizer and the cost is typically 4,000 to 5,000 Baht. Thai Immigration has a limit of two entries by land in a calendar year. There is no formal limit on the number of entries by air from any country." Now I have read the Emergency Decree on that. I don't know that that is really a good distinction to always make. In my opinion, the rule of thumb is two air, land, sea Border Runs a year

I kind of see how you could parse the distinction there but whether or not you want to parse that, believe me when I say this, I have seen multiple folks try to do more than two air Border Runs in one given calendar year and get really hassled at Immigration checkpoints coming back in at the airport and even in some instances, turned around depending on how many of them they have done in a calendar year. So the rule of thumb is really two border runs of any type in a given year, that is my opinion there. Quoting further: "Although there will be problems if an individual tries to "live" in Thailand by too frequent arrivals at the Thai Airport without an authorized pre-arranged Visa." Yeah again as we have discussed in other videos, Thai Immigration gets very, very, how shall we say, touchy about folks who are clearly staying for prolonged periods of time in Thailand just using Border Runs as a means and method of doing that.

So again, the rule of thumb is two a year and the thing to take away from this video is if you are looking to really live in Thailand, really it is probably a really good idea to get a proper Visa rather than try to mess around with Border Runs because look at the end of the day, Thai Immigration is much more serious about Immigration enforcement especially at checkpoints whether it be land, air or sea here in Thailand and it may not be prudent to try and base your lifestyle i.e. living in Thailand, simply on doing Border Runs in a long-term capacity.